Potpie is doing better; the incidence of funky-looking poops is going way
down, her activity level is going up (I always know she's in a good mood
when she bugs me incessantly - equivalent to a kid going, "Mom!  Mom?  Mom?
Mom?  Mooooom!  Hey, Mom!  MOM!!!"), and she's not nearly as sleepy as she
has been.  To recap:
 
Symptoms:
 
Funny stool-
 - Loose, light-colored
 - often looks 'undigested' - just crunched up and then it slides right
   through, comes out loose & unformed
 - pure mucus stool, yellowish, with yellow globs
 - Sticky stool with dark green
 
Activity level down; she'd come out of the cage and go right back to sleep.
Difficult to wake up.
 
Eat, drink normal, minor weight loss, minor dehydration, but normal winter
coat coming in fine.  Symptoms present for 3-4 weeks.  Puzzled the vet.
Fecal and CBC showed nothing obvious (parasites, signs of infection).
Blockage unlikely.
 
We started giving her small amounts of Prozyme under the assumption that it
was a pancreatic disorder.  Whatever it was, the Prozyme seemed to give
Potpie the 'leg up' that ferrets sometimes need, and she started coming
around - more normal-looking stool, a bit more chipper.  Btw, the Prozyme at
the 1/8 tsp dose made her throw up violently and pass watery diarrhea.
 
Easel has been perfectly healthy (and fat).  Yesterday, I found her
scratching her back by rolling around in the litterbox on the wood stove
pellets.  For like, 20 minutes.  Snort.  She looks a lot like a bottom-heavy
seal when she's lying on her back.
 
I am weaning Friday slowly off pred - you may remember she was diagnosed as
having lympho based on lung congestion and badly swollen nodes; also, unseen
but suspected tumor pressing on her spine and paralyzing her back end.  This
started last February; now I'm maintaining her on .1cc every other day.
They're all on a primarily TF diet, and Friday's currently starting to look
like a little orange polar bear (with demonic red eyes, of course).
 
Noodle is coughing less and less, has put on nearly a pound since his ulcer
this summer, has a gorgeous winter coat, and appears pretty darn healthy.
Does anyone know what children's Triaminic dose is appropriate for ferrets?
Just a side note - if you have a ferret that's prone to being sulky and gets
depressed/mad at you when you leave on vacation, don't send them away to a
new ferret sitter's for a week, especially if that new ferret sitter has an
aggressive, territorial ferret who doesn't like your mopey ferret all that
much.  :) That much stress results in wacked-out health problems in your
delicately-temperamented fuzzbutt.  (Catherine: the dogs will get along
better than Mithy and Noodle did :).
 
Melissa
 
 __ Melissa Litwicki ____ [log in to unmask] __
 By the whole newsgroup devoted tennis showing
     it after scarfing fork and laughters
[Posted in FML issue 2124]